Russ Feingold to Help Republicans Move on To Stage 2: Anger

[RDixon]

"In the United States of America, the people are sovereign, not the President. It is Congress’ responsibility to challenge an administration that persists in a war that is misguided and that the country opposes. We cannot simply wring our hands and complain about the Administration’s policy. We cannot just pass resolutions saying “your policy is mistaken.” And we can’t stand idly by and tell ourselves that it’s the President’s job to fix the mess he made. It’s our job to fix the mess, and if we don’t do so we are abdicating our responsibilities.

Tomorrow, I will introduce legislation that will prohibit the use of funds to continue the deployment of U.S. forces in Iraq six months after enactment. By prohibiting funds after a specific deadline, Congress can force the President to bring our forces out of Iraq and out of harm’s way. "

http://www.fdlreporter.com/apps/pbcs.../70130043/1985

Let the games begin...

[theknife]

the GOP wants to filibuster or otherwise block any anti-war resolution. i hope they do - let 'em stand up and be counted as standing squarely behind Bush and his war. with almost 70% percent of the public against the war, it's helpful to have a stark reminder of who is listening to whom.

[albed]

That's not an "anti-war resolution" bubbles, it's an oddly courageous and effective "action" that's hardly believable given the dems record of empty rhetoric.

No doubt they have plans to assure that that legislation will fail to pass and they'll remain consistant with their past behaviour.

And their dim-witted supporters will cheer the "effort".

[Mazer]

They'll either do what they think is right or they'll do what they think will get them reelected. Sure, you'd rather the government wimped out and caved to public opinion, but is that any way for a republic to behave?



Buncha cowards runnin' this country.

[Sinner]

Originally Posted by Mazer

They'll either do what they think is right or they'll do what they think will get them reelected. Sure, you'd rather the government wimped out and caved to public opinion, but is that any way for a republic to behave?



Buncha cowards runnin' this country.

Amen to that,

Problem is, politicians right now have to scramble to survive the bad press and opinion polls because for the last 200 years Americans grow weary if a war goes on for more then 3 years. This is the point when they want to pull up their skirts and run away. Most of Iraq is in peace, the northern and the southern areas. It is the Sunni Arab minority who still support the attackes to try and restore a Sunni Arab dictatorship. All that is happening is you have partisans not accurately describing the terror campaign and opposition politicians taking advantage of the situation, this has nothing to do with Iraq. It has everything to do with local politics in the United States.

[RDixon]

"I listened carefully to the President's remarks at a news conference that he held earlier today. I heard nothing in his discussion of the issue that would persuade me that further U.S. military involvement in the area is necessary. In fact, his remarks have persuaded me more profoundly that we should leave and leave soon.

Dates certain, Mr. President, are not the criteria here. What is the criteria and what should be the criteria is our immediate, orderly withdrawal from Somalia. And if we do not do that and other Americans die, other Americans are wounded, other Americans are captured because we stay too long--longer than necessary--then I would say that the responsibilities for that lie with the Congress of the United States who did not exercise their authority under the Constitution of the United States and mandate that they be brought home quickly and safely as possible." - Sen. John McCain - October 19,1993

On President Clinton's Somalia disaster which ultimately cost Les Aspen his job as Sec Def.
Russ Feingold was in complete agreement with McCain.

Feingold's position today is the same.

McCain's?

Waffle waffle...

Congress not only can, but WILL end the Bush disaster in Iraq, one way or another... and if Bush "decides" to make it a constitutional crisis, he will lose; possibly his job.

CSPAN viewership numbers will be increasing in the coming few months, I predict.

[Mazer]

Nah, C-SPAN's viewership could increase 1000% and they'd still have poor ratings. But I'm betting NPR's audience will double in size. In fact any news outlet could increase its ratings just by implying that Iraq is a mess and Bush is a failure, and if they're interested in increasing their advertising rates then that's exactly what they'll do. Due to the increase in negative reporting the public will be tricked into thinking things are far worse than they actually are, and eventually reporting bad news all the time will become so profitable that it will become utterly impossible to tell what's really going on. At that point reality will be replaced by what some people call hyperreality, an entirely fictitious construct that most people cannot distinguish from the real thing. Mass delusion ensues.

Or has that already happened?

But all that aside, McCain is being a good Republican now as he was then, and his buddy Feingold is no different. I hate to say it but the only guy with any guts at all—besides Bush—is Joe Lieberman. The rest are all politicians, and you can't expect any elected official to stick to his guns in a place like Washington, D.C.

[miss_silver]

Originally Posted by Mazer

but is that any way for a republic to behave?

Yes it is. Somehow I just heard the very faint echo of Lincoln words ...and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Now that is a republic.

In Canada, ex MP Paul Martin was overthrown because of the corruption of his party and the sponsorship scandals, this year it's MP Harper's turn, that brown noser will be overthrown by a no confidence vote sometime this spring. Canadians are pissed to see good soldiers, good men come back in coffins from afghanistan.

The people have spoken, bring our troops back home.

Of the people, by the people, for the people

[Mazer]

Originally Posted by miss_silver

Yes it is. Somehow I just heard the very faint echo of Lincoln words ...and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Now that is a republic.

A republic is a small group of people that governs the rest of the population with the mandate of that population. We have democratic elections but that does not make us a democracy, and because we are not a democracy our government should not flip flop in response to public opinion polls. A republic that pretends to be a democracy is having a crisis of identity and needs to get its act together. It needs representatives who stick to the promises that got them elected in the first place.

Lincoln was a Republican, by the way. He would not have approved of our leaders consulting opinion polls after they were elected.

[miss_silver]

Originally Posted by Mazer

A republic is a small group of people that governs the rest of the population with the mandate of that population. We have democratic elections but that does not make us a democracy, and because we are not a democracy our government should not flip flop in response to public opinion polls. A republic that pretends to be a democracy is having a crisis of identity and needs to get its act together. It needs representatives who stick to the promises that got them elected in the first place.

Lincoln was a Republican, by the way. He would not have approved of our leaders consulting opinion polls after they were elected.

Come again?

We have democratic elections but that does not make us a democracy, and because we are not a democracy our government should not flip flop in response to public opinion polls.

You are not a democracy? Then how come say that the USA did bring a democracy to Iraq? Quite an oximoron yes?

So if the United States of America is not a democracy, what is it then, totalitarian, fascist?

So what you say is that the people have the right to vote but once their vote casted, they have to shut the fuck up?

I used Lincoln as an example for his words are worth shit to the actual republican party that is in office today, afterall, didn't Bush referred to the constitution as only a god damned piece of paper?

Quite a slap in the face of the achivement of Lincoln eh? For the people by the people. I am sure he didn't mean all your civil liberties taken away for a little security... Today's republicans are very far from what Lincoln Idealogy was when he founded this party, he seem more like a democrat with his values and ideas than a turn of this century republican. The only true republican in my views today is Ron Paul.